Cost information in energy bills for households effecting the adoption of energy techniques

Entrop, A.G.
and
Dewulf, G.P.M.R.
(2011)
Cost information in energy bills for households effecting the adoption of energy techniques.
In:
MISBE2011 - Proceedings of the international Conference on Management and Innovation for a Sustainable Built Environment.
Delft University of Technology.
ISBN 9789052693958

Financial appraisal is an important aspect in adopting techniques that reduce the (fossil) energy use of buildings. When financial appraisal of an energy technique takes place, fixed prices for the form and amount of energy are often used and are multiplied by the estimated amount of energy savings. However, after a certain time period an energy bill for the user of a building only partially shows variable prices depending on the form and amount of energy. Many costs mentioned by a common energy bill are time related or are related to the national political regime. Infrastructural costs depend on the type of connection you have to the grid. These costs form an annual fee. The VAT or additional energy taxes that need to be paid, depends on the political regime and are often expressed in a surcharge in terms of percentage. This paper focus on the differences between marginal and average energy costs and the differences in variable and fixed energy costs. The impact price differences have for the financial appraisal of energy saving techniques for multiple actors is shown by conducting a comparative study on energy bills. It shows that marginal energy costs are significantly lower than average energy costs